Computers and Technology

At home I have a computer with no anti-virus or software firewall installed on it. My computer rarely slows down or crashes, and my anti-spyware applications only report Internet cookies as problems. I don't recommend that anyone go without an anti-virus, anti-spyware, and software firewall installed, but those tools will only work properly if you let them. This article will describe how to work with those tools to keep your computer clean of viruses and spyware.

Anti-virus Software: You have probably heard of these software packages, and also probably have one installed and running on you computer right now. These applications load up when Windows loads and stay in the background until needed. Many scan your computer at scheduled times, and also when you download e-mail attachments. You can also manually run a scan whenever you need, and hopefully clean, any viruses that may be active on you computer. McAfee and Norton are the two major anti-virus software companies today. There are also smaller ones, such as AVG, that can be just a good.

Software Firewall :There is some debate as to whether this is an important piece of software, especially to those behind a hardware firewall. In my opinion it is very important with regards to managing your computer's security. A software firewall controls access to and from you computer. This means it monitors the traffic to your computer from the Internet, as well as the traffic from an application on your computer to the Internet.

You may be wondering why it's important to monitor traffic from your computer to the Internet? There are many viruses and spyware that will execute on your computer and send data over the Internet to another machine. Such information such as passwords or keystrokes can be sent from your computer to the machine on the Internet. When one of these applications attempt to send information, the software firewall will notice and send you an alert, usually asking for confirmation about the application connecting to the Internet. If you disallow the application, it can't send data over the Internet. This will also allow you to investigate the application and take action, such as running your anti-virus or anti-spyware application.

Anti-spyware :These tools are similar to anti-virus tools, but they search out and eliminate known spyware on your computer. The two most common tools are Ad-aware and Spybot - Search & Destroy. It is advisable to install both tools as each one cannot indivdually remove all known spyware. Together, however, they can eliminate most of them.

Hardware Firewall :This is not a tool that can be installed on your computer, but rather it is a physical device that is connected between your modem and your computer. This means that any traffic that comes from the Internet, must first go through the hardware firewall and then to your computer. The hardware firewall is similar to a software firewall, but it usually only blocks traffic from the Internet, and not from your computer. This should be your first line of defence against any viruses or spyware.

Including the tools listed above, here are some tips to help keep your computer clean:

1. Ensure that your anti-virus and anti-spyware software is up to date. It is important that the data files are recent as new viruses and spyware are discovered on a daily basis.
2. Don't open e-mails from people you don't know.
3. Schedule your anti-virus software to run at a specific time each week as many have a built-in scheduler.
4. Run your anti-spyware applications on a weekly basis as well to ensure your computer remains clean.
5. Only allow known applications to access the Internet from your computer.
6. Ensure that you have secured your hardware firewall with a strong ID and password.
7. Don't visit Web sites your don't trust.
8. If you have children, institute parental controls on your firewalls to prevent them from visiting less than ideal Web sites.

In the end, however, the best defence for your computer is simply common sense. If you don't trust a Web site, then don't go to it. If you don't trust an e-mail attachment or the sender, then don't open it.

Following the steps listed above, and the information in this article will help keep your computer free from viruses and spyware, and make your computer and information secure.